Saturday, April 27, 2013

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who co-sponsored the amendment with West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin, saw his approval rating jump to 48 percent in a new Quinnipiac poll. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), who voted against the measure, saw her approval rating dip to 44 percent in a new Public Policy Polling survey.For both, the swings were drastic. Toomey now has an
approval-to-disapproval split of 48-30, a net increase of 7 points from
March. His approval held steady among Republicans, and he gained ground
with Independents and Democrats.

Friday, April 26, 2013

The Atlantic came up with a piece titled Owning Guns Doesn't Preserve Freedom which basically backs up what I have been saying about personal guns protecting freedom being rubbish. After all, the Iraquis had loads of guns. And heavily-armed Yemen (54.8) and Saudi Arabia (35.0) remain among the most repressive countries in the world (Yes, Orlon, I know this stuff is hard for you to understand, but that never stops you from making idiotic comments).

The article points out that:

A quick scan through the list continues the point. Chile (10.7) comes in with the same arms rate as Venezuela, but the nations present starkly divergent civil freedoms. Russia (8.9) is slightly more armed than Ireland (8.6). The Netherlands (3.9) is on par, as far as weapons go, with oppressive Turkmenistan (3.8). Israel and Georgia see the same arms rate as Iran and Belarus and yet exist on opposite ends of Freedom House's rank.

The best quote:

"This relationship between gun rates and [democracy] isn't based upon
social science - it's based upon philosophy," said Aaron Karp, a
political science
professor at Old Dominion University and one of the Small Arms
Survey's senior consultants. "Part of the reason why people who are
advocates of individual
gun rights tend to be opposed to social science is that they're not
comfortable with it."

In the current debate over gun control, the pro-gun lobby has an ace card up its sleeve: We need weapons to prevent government tyranny, they say. These self-styled champions of liberty see guns as the ultimate insurance policy to protect the Constitution. The problem is that most of those making this argument also strongly support a massive U.S. military -- exactly the behemoth we must be armed against. It's the great gun gobbledygook.

The irony isn't lost on me that the Second Amendment was supposed to protect against a large, standing military. On the other hand, the historically ignorant can be led.
BAAHHHHH!BAAHHHHH!BAAHHHHH!BAAHHHHH!BAAHHHHH!

Did you know that Tennessee has the sixth-highest rate of accidental shooting deaths in the country? I read that statistic buried deep in this story
about parents and gun safety. You’d think a statistic like that might
have been mentioned sooner amid all of the gun loonery foisted on us by
the state legislature and their puppetmasters at the Tennessee Firearms
Assn. Then again, maybe it was discussed and I just missed it.

With that in mind, I need to ask Greeneville, TN: WTF? This week’s gun report has two separate accidents from Greeneville, and some gun loonery that thankfully didn’t result in injury. Must be something in the water there.

crimes. But here’s the most stunning statistic. In the decade before the
Port Arthur massacre, there had been 11 mass shootings in the country.
There hasn’t been a single one in Australia since.

There have been some contrarian studies about the decrease in gun
violence in Australia, including a 2006 paper that argued the decline in
gun-related homicides after Port Arthur was simply a continuation of trends already under way. But that paper’s methodology has been discredited,
which is not surprising when you consider that its authors were
affiliated with pro-gun groups. Other reports from gun advocates have
similarly cherry-picked anecdotal evidence or presented outright fabrications
in attempting to make the case that Australia’s more-restrictive laws
didn’t work. Those are effectively refuted by findings from
peer-reviewed papers, which note that the rate of decrease in
gun-related deaths more than doubled following the gun buyback, and that
states with the highest buyback rates showed the steepest declines. A 2011 Harvard summary of the research
concluded that, at the time the laws were passed in 1996, “it would
have been difficult to imagine more compelling future evidence of a
beneficial effect.”

Darke County Common Pleas Court Judge Jonathan Hein
minced no words when it came to sentencing Michael L. and Melody R.
Fisher of rural Fort Recovery in connection with the accidental shooting
of their 11-year-old son.

The Fishers, who each received five years
community control sanctions (probation) plus 15 days in jail, were found
guilty earlier this month of endangering children. Jurors failed to
reach a verdict after 13 hours of deliberation on more serious
involuntary manslaughter charges.

Hein referred to the statement, "I thought I taught my son better," Michael Fisher made during a three-day jury trial.

Michael "Mikey" Fisher III died Aug. 4, 2011,
after shooting himself in the head while handling a 9-millimeter handgun.

Older and younger siblings reportedly were in the room at the
time of the 1:15 a.m. shooting and the parents were in bed.

The judge also bristled at comments made regarding constitutional rights to bear arms. It is a constitutional privilege to own guns
and responsibility goes with that privilege. The more guns the higher
duty," Hein said referring to the 86 guns found in the Fisher home.

Darke County Assistant Prosecutor Deborah
Quigley had requested 30-day jail sentences and forfeiture of the guns,
many of which had been left unsecured at the Fisher home.

What do you think? A few days in jail and lose the guns sound about right?How about that brilliant observation:"I thought I taught my son better."

Thursday, April 25, 2013

The problem with claiming rights is who are you claiming rights from? If it's from the US Constitution, then you are only claiming a right from the Federal Government. Even then, it is only a baseline right--that is that is the minimum level of protection which states can't violate.

In other words, State constitutions can grant expanded rights, but they cannot restrict the right. Thus, state constitutions can offer "individual rights" to arms in their constitution while the Federal Constitution explicitly limits the right to a "well-reguilated militia".

But, that is an aside, You do not have rights against private entities. Go to a Walmart and pass out Union Literature and find out what happens if you think I'm wrong. In fact, for all you people who dislike the state, realise that non-governmental bodies can tell you to go fuck yourself as far as rights go.

That said, GE Capital, the huge financing arm of General Electric Co., has made it a policy to stop making loans to gun shops:

"As a responsible lender, we regularly review our lending policies and
products to meet changing conditions and requirements. In 2008, we
adopted a policy to cease providing consumer financing programs to
merchants whose primary business is to sell firearms. Recently, we
implemented a more rigorous audit process in our sporting goods segment
in light of industry changes, new legislation and tragic events that
have caused widespread reexamination of policies on firearms. This
process has affected less than 75 retailers (approx. .001% of all gun
retailers) and an immaterial part of our sales volume."

The move marks the latest effort by the corporate and investment worlds to take a stand on guns. It could have a significant effect on the powerful and sprawling gun industry if the financing dries up for the firearms industry.

Also, that would also have an effect if people exercise their right NOT to have you armed on their property.

To be quite frank, the "pro-gun" stance isn't very "pro-gun". People running around armed and irresponsible doesn't place gun owners in a very positive light.

Or as John Lennon said:"If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow."

In this case, those elite people you dislike have realised that money makes the world go around. And they have the money to make it turn the way they want it to.

Two people were injured in a Tuesday night shooting in Hanover County, according to Hanover Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Chris Whitley.Whitley
said one person in a vehicle traveling along the 3100 block of Old
Church Road had a gun in his hands when the weapon fired.

The person holding the gun was shot, as was the driver.Whitley said the shooting is being investigated as “accidental.”

“There is
no threat to the community or cause for alarm,” Whitley wrote in an
email. “In addition, we are not seeking any additional information or
searching for any suspects in connection to this incident. “

No threat to the community??? How the hell did he figure that? Lawful gun owners who are so irresponsible and reckless as to allow negligent discharges are indeed a threat to the community.

By the way, the lack of charges indicates he was a lawful gun owner. But, are you allowed to carry a gun in the car in Virginia, or does that require a concealed carry permit?

Authorities in Ouachita County have ruled a weekend fatal shooting at a turkey camp to be accidental.

Deputies were called Sunday after 36-year-old Jeremy
Owens of Beebe was shot. Deputies spoke with 38-year-old Harley R.
Brittain, also of Beebe, who was taking Owens to a hospital.

Brittain told deputies that he and Owens arrived at the camp and that
he accidentally shot Owens in the leg with a .40 caliber handgun.
Brittain explained that the weapon lodged between two seats in their
vehicle and it discharged as he tried to retrieve it.

Brittain acknowledged to deputies that he'd been
drinking but Prosecutor Ian Vickery says Arkansas law doesn't prohibit
being around firearms while intoxicated. Vickery says he's convinced the
death was accidental.

Whaat??? "Arkansas law doesn't prohibit
being around firearms while intoxicated." Not only that, drunk or not, treating gross negligence like a simple accident is wrong. But, what can you expext from a hillbilly state like Arkansas.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

New research has found that suicide rates are significantly higher in
states with high rates of household gun ownership. The study's results
appear in the April issue of the Journal of Trauma.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health examined nationwide
statistics on suicide rates and gun ownership. They found that in the
15 states with the highest numbers of household gun owners, the suicide
rate was double that of the 6 states with the lowest numbers of
household gun owners. Population sizes among the states were similar.

The study authors stated that while only 5 percent of all suicide
attempts involve guns, over 90 percent of all suicide attempts involving
guns are fatal. By contrast, 75 percent of suicide attempts involve
drug overdoses, but only 3 percent of these are fatal.

Only the gun-rights fanatics will find this surprising, and I'm sure they'll have some verbose ways to explain it away.

Like everybody else, I would imagine he first heard this inane response to gun control suggestions from Wayne La Pierre. I can't believe he's repeating it. I suppose he really thinks his fast-talking slickness is too much for us. Of course most of his listeners are already believers and for them he can say no wrong.

Any honest discussion of how criminals get guns discounts the example he used in the video, criminal to criminal. The important transaction is the one in which a gun moves from the lawful owner to the criminal. This is especially important since almost all guns used in crime initially start out as the lawful property of someone. I described the four ways here.

Background checks on private sales would eliminate one of the 4 ways. We don't need criminals to obey that law, we only need the law abiding to do so.

Now in order to slickly slide that one past us, Colion spent the next three-quarters of the video mocking Vice President Biden, which I happen to agree with.

A Knox County man will spend no time in prison for the death of his 3-year-old son, who shot
himself with a .45-caliber handgun that his father had tucked beneath a couch in the family’s
home.Joshua Heagren, 25, was sentenced yesterday by Licking County Common Pleas Court Judge David
Branstool after being convicted on Feb. 5 of child-endangering and negligent homicide in the death
of his son, Lucas.Heagren, who faced a maximum of six months in jail on the misdemeanor homicide count and three
years for child-endangering, received a suspended 24-month prison sentence and was placed on
probation for two years.Branstool also ordered Heagren to pay a $500 fine, perform 50 hours of community service, submit
to alcohol- and drug-use monitoring and maintain full-time employment. The judge also forbade him
from possessing guns.

I suppose that's about the perfect solution. I usually feel that prison time is unnecessary when someone's negligence causes the loss of a child. That's got to be the worst punishment in the world.

I'd like to hear some of the pro-gun fellas respond to this. I'll bet you prove Jim Carrey right when he called you "cold-hearted bastards."

And your nasty responses to these people are understandable because you realize they represent exactly why your movement is doomed. Most family members of gun violence victims do what these people did - move strongly towards gun control. Multiply that by the hundreds of thousands each year who are touched in this way, led by the example of these Newtown folks, there's a tsunami coming.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

-(Ammoland.com)-
More than 1 million Floridians have their concealed carry permit, but
the gender and age bracket showing the largest increase might surprise
you–it’s women 66 years of age and older.

Their numbers have jumped 619 percent since 2004, reports the Orlando Sentinel, and total nearly 35,000 individuals licensed to carry a firearm in the Sunshine State and 35 other states.

The Sentinel also reports that women in the youngest age bracket, 21
to 35, with pistol permits increased 463 percent to more than 40,000.

While gun ownership is up, the Sentinel reports violent crime in Florida has dropped nearly 60 percent in the last 20 years.

Looking at the way she handles the gun, does anyone really think she's safer armed? I don't think so. This is the problem with the gun-rights movement and all the fear-mongering it depends upon. Many new gun owners are not physically and mentally capable of responsible gun handling.

Of course this matters not the the true believers. They don't care if guns do more harm than good, as long as they themselves are not inconvenienced by any additional restrictions.

A man identified by employees as a former maintenance worker opened
fire inside a Detroit medical facility, sending screaming workers and
visitors rushing for the doors just moments before the building erupted
in flames.

Crews digging through the gutted Park Medical Centers
building recovered the remains of a man and woman hours after the
Tuesday morning blaze, Detroit police said in a statement.

Authorities did not release the identities of the dead,
pending autopsies, but police had been searching for 35-year-old medical
assistant Sharita Williams and the fired maintenance worker, who
relatives said was her ex-boyfriend.

Williams' mother, Antha Williams-Hill, told The Associated
Press that one of her daughter's co-workers told her that the man
threatened her daughter inside.

"He said, 'You think I'm playing with you?'" Williams-Hill
said. "He told the other girl, 'I think you better get out of here.'
The girl left and said she then heard two shots."

Last week, Sharita Williams was granted a personal protection order against the man, according to Wayne County Court records.

She said her daughter had been dating the married maintenance man for
more than a year, but their relationship was rocky and Sharita
eventually began seeing someone else. She even moved out of the city and
into a Detroit suburb to get away from him. He refused to leave her
alone, Williams-Hill said.

A domestic dispute triggered a deadly Sunday night rampage south of
Seattle in which a gunman killed his girlfriend, two bystanders and a
neighbor before being shot dead by police.Federal
Way, Wash., police said the gunman — armed with a .40-caliber
semiautomatic handgun and a pistol-grip shotgun — apparently was
eliminating witnesses after he shot his 25-year-old girlfriend in the
head at their Pinewood Village apartment about 9:30 p.m. PT.The
killer next shot two men, one 23 and the other 46, in the parking lot.
One died beside a car, the other was wounded and then "executed" a few
yards away.Police Chief Brian Wilson said the gunman then apparently heard a
62-year-old neighbor yell for someone to call 911, so he blasted open
the man's door with a shotgun and killed him with a second blast. Officers arrived amid gunfire
and spotted the suspect in a stairwell, ordering him to drop his weapon.
He refused, so police shot and wounded him, causing him to drop the
shotgun. The suspect ran to the parking lot but fell to the ground near
one of the men he had killed.In all, eight officers fired their weapons.Police killed the gunman when he reached for a handgun. He has not been officially identified, but sources told KOMO-TV he is 28-year-old Dennis Clark.Wilson
said the gunman had a concealed-carry permit and was the registered
owner of at least two firearms, including the handgun he is alleged to
have used to kill his girlfriend and the two men in the parking lot.
Federal agents are investigating the history of the shotgun.

Proper gun control might very well have prevented this. I'm not talking about the watered-down versions of what passes for gun control in Washington DC, I'm talking about real gun control.

This man's unfitness to own guns responsibly was known to the police. "May issue" for gun licensing would very likely have prevented him from owning guns. Then when the domestic violence incident exploded, he might have done a lot less damage.

According to some sources, the Boston Medium consulted by Mrs.
Winchester explained that her family and her fortune were being haunted
by spirits – in fact, by the spirits of American Indians, Civil War
soldiers, and others killed by Winchester rifles. Supposedly the
untimely deaths of her daughter and husband were caused by these
spirits, and it was implied that Mrs. Winchester might be the next
victim.

However, the medium also claimed that there was an alternative, Mrs.
Winchester was instructed to move west and appease the spirits by
building a great house for them. As long as construction of the house
never ceased, Mrs. Winchester could rest assured that her life was not
in danger. Building such a house was even supposed to bring her eternal
life.

I can’t help thinking of Sarah and her house each time there is a mass
shooting or when Senate gun-control legislation fails, as it did last
week. America has had, at various times in our history, common-sense
regulations and controls on firearms, from the 1790s through the Wild
West era and up until the assault weapons ban expired in 2004. Until the
current Republicans acknowledge this, we will all continue living in
Sarah’s haunted house.

Among the weapons officials have said were in the possession of
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were not only several bombs, but
handguns, an M-4 carbine rifle and more than 250 rounds of ammunition.

Much of that arsenal was on fiery display when the brothers engaged
in a wild gun battle with police in suburban Watertown early Friday,
shortly after images of them milling about the marathon's finish line
were released to the public by the FBI.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died following that gun battle while a Boston
transit police officer was gravely wounded. The Tsarnaev brothers are
also the prime suspects in the execution-style shooting of a security
officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology a couple of hours
before the gun battle.

"There was a lot of firepower employed," White House press secretary Jay Carney told the daily news briefing on Monday.

Neither Tsarnaev brother had licences to carry firearms, police say.

But even if they'd wanted to acquire the weapons legally — unlikely,
considering they were allegedly plotting a terrorist attack — they
could have obtained them without submitting to a background check under
current laws.

Tougher background checks likely would have caused problems for
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died following the shootout, given his past
brushes with authorities.

Yes, indeed, this is the first high-profile tragedy which points to the terrible fallacy of the Senate vote last week.

There will be more. The pro-gun fanatics will, instead of taking responsibility for these incidents as a inevitable down-side to their policy of gun-rights, will accuse us of dancing in the blood of the poor victims.

But, that's all right. The necessary changes will eventually come. Too bad for the future, unnecessary casualties, the gun-rights folks are so stubborn and self-centered.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Ralph Demicco has
watched the surveillance footage of a man shopping around his store,
leaning on the counter and calmly chatting with the clerk before buying
the gun he used to take his own life later that day. The man was one of
three people, who in the span of a week purchased firearms from
Demicco’s gun shop and used them to commit suicide.“I was devastated,” Demicco recalled. “At the time, I remember saying over and over, ‘I just can’t believe it.’”A review of the state medical examiner’s records showed that
recently purchased firearms were being used in suicides roughly once per
month in New Hampshire. Since the string of suicides in 2009, Demicco
has joined forces with health professionals and gun dealers in a
campaign to help gun stores and firing ranges learn ways to avoid
selling or renting a firearm to a suicidal person. The campaign, known
as The Gun Shop Project, also encourages gun businesses to share suicide
prevention materials with customers.“It’s not that gun owners
are more likely to be suicidal or depressed. It’s that guns are the most
lethal way for someone to take their own life,” said Elaine Frank, with
the New Hampshire Firearm Safety Coalition. Firearm suicides account
for more deaths than all other suicide methods combined and 65 percent
of all gun deaths in the U.S., according to figures from 2011 provided
by gunpolicy.org, an international group working to reduce gun injuries.

Gov. Chris Christie on Friday unveiled a multi-faceted plan to curb gun
violence in New Jersey that includes expanding government-funded mental
health treatment, requiring parental sign-off before children can buy or
rent violent video games, and mandating that ID presented by would-be gun-owners is government-issued.The
Republican's plan also includes a ban on the sale of Barrett
.50-caliber semi-automatic sniper rifles, bail reforms that would make
it harder for people suspected of violent gun crimes to be released, and
provisions to make it easier for courts and health care professionals
to involuntarily commit people they consider violent to a psychiatric
hospital.The plan does not address classroom security or propose
stricter limits on the capacity of ammunition magazines, which in New
Jersey stands at 15 rounds.

This week, the drive to mandate universal gun sale background checks and close the "gun show loophole" failed in the Senate.

President Barack Obama blamed the gun lobby for the bill's defeat,
saying the National Rifle Association and others lied about the bill's
content.

"They claimed that it would create some sort of ‘big brother’ gun
registry, even though the bill did the opposite," Obama said. "This
legislation, in fact, outlawed any registry. Plain and simple, right
there in the text. But that didn't matter."

The NRA's Wayne LaPierre said the Association would never back a federal gun registry.

"That's what they're after, the names of good, decent people all over
this great country who happen to own a firearm to go into a federal
database for universal registration," he said.

Many U.S. Senators voted no on the bill fearing the measure would lead to the government keeping tabs on gun-owning Americans.

Angry constituents, such as the Arizona Citizens Defense League, sent
emails saying the bill was "proposing the universal regulation of all
firearms and their owners."

PolitiFact rated Obama's statement as true.

The government is currently required to destroy all personal
information found in background checks, and the bill would have actually
outlawed a federal gun registry.

A four-year-old boy died of a gunshot wound in his home Saturday, investigators said.
Cody R. Hall died from a single gunshot wound, Marion County
Sheriff's Office spokesman Don Thomson said. Investigators on Saturday
said the shooting appeared to be an accident. They are not looking for
any suspects in connection with Hall's death.Hall’s death is the second accidental shooting death of a young child in our area in the last week. On April 14, nine-year-old Shayla Shonneker was shot and killed
in her back yard by a stray bullet in Oregon City. Her mother’s
boyfriend was inside the home practicing drawing a gun when it fired,
investigators said. He does not face charges at this time.

This is gross nonchalance. It seems in Oregon as soon as they determine it was an "accident," they're satisfied. I say there's not much difference between an intentional homicide and this type of gross neglegence, at least not much difference in the body count. To not hold gun owners responsible for their misbehavior is wrong.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

On
Wednesday, I sat in the Senate Gallery and witnessed one of the most
shameful episodes in the history of that chamber. 45 Senators caved
under pressure from the National Rifle Association and killed a modest,
bipartisan bill that would have expanded background checks on gun buyers
and saved countless lives. When the clerk called the final roll call
for the vote, my outrage erupted along with that of Tucson shooting hero
Pat Maisch (Pat grabbed the high-capacity ammunition magazine from
gunman Jared Loughner when he went to reload).

"SHAME ON YOU!" we shouted simultaneously from the gallery. That led to us being detained by U.S. Capitol Police who...you guessed it...
ran a background check on us before releasing us from custody.

Like you, I am disgusted that the Senate failed to act this week. But I assure you, this fight is far from over. As President Obama said following the Senate vote, "I see this as just round one." And it's possible this bill could
be back—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid changed his vote to NO at the
last minute in a procedural move so that he can bring the legislation
up for consideration again if necessary.

For now, however, we
must send a very clear message to the 45 Senators who capitulated to
the NRA and put gun industry profits over the safety of our loved ones. You can find a list of Senators who voted NO on expanding background checks
here. And their direct-dial phone numbers are available at
this webpage.

Call as many of these 45 Senators as you can.
Tell them how disgusted you are by their NO vote on background checks.
If you are their constituent, tell them they have lost your vote. And
tell them you will be speaking to their donors who you know personally.

Round 1 went to the NRA and
their lackeys. But they made a huge strategic blunder by overreaching
and angering a nation. Now we will show them, with great clarity, that
there is a political price to be paid for putting our loved ones in the
line of fire. Let's get working and change this Congress into one that
care mores about our kids than padding the wallets of NRA demagogues
like Wayne LaPierre.

Greenville deputies said the toddler reached into his father's pocket and grabbed a pistol and the weapon fired.

Greenville deputies said a 2-year-old child is in the hospital after an accidental shooting in Greenville County.

Deputies said the toddler and his father were visiting the child's
grandparents on Fenwick Lane in Berea, when the toddler reached into his
father's pocket and grabbed the weapon. The gun fired striking the
toddler in the chest.The incident is under investigation.

I suppose due process demands a lengthy investigation to determine who was at fault here.

A man was wounded during an accidental shooting this evening while
preparing to go hunting hogs in Myakka today, the Manatee County
Sheriff’s Office said.

According to a report, Floyd K. Oney II was invited by Jason C. Durrance
to go hunting at his property at 37550 Clay Gully Road. Oney had a
single action .45 revolver in a belt holster, slung over his shoulder.

Shortly before 7 p.m., the men had trouble starting the Kawasaki Mule
they were intending to use, and when they raised the seat and leaned
over the vehicle, the revolver fell from Oney's holster and discharged
when it hit the ground, deputies said.

Cenk makes an interesting point. The pro-gun forces should have let the watered down version of the background checks bill pass. That way many gun control folks would be satisfied with at least a token victory.

But, the way it went down, the gun control side is angry and is not going away.

Adolphus A. Busch IV, heir the Busch family brewing
fortune, penned a letter indicating his “formal resignation” of his
lifetime National Rifle Association membership. The letter, sent to KSDK, cites the NRA’s opposition to background checks and criticizes the organization’s “distorted values.”“It disturbs me greatly to see this rigid new direction of the NRA,”
Busch wrote. “Was it not the NRA position to support background checks
when Mr. LaPierre himself stated in 1999 that NRA saw the checks as
‘reasonable’?”“I am simply unable to comprehend how assault weapons and large
capacity magazines have a role in your vision,” he later added. “The NRA
appears to have evolved into the lobby for gun and ammunition
manufacturers instead of gun owners. … [I] must take this action based
upon my personal feelings toward the distorted values I see emerging
within the NRA.”

That kid's in the 8th grade? I wonder how many grades he's repeated in his young academic career.

He and his gun-nut daddy didn't think it would go this far. I guess they didn't get the Ghandi memo about non-violent resistance. You have to be prepared to take your lumps. That is, after all, what you were asking for.

Even the most cynical amongst us were stunned when the U.S. Senate
voted down a watered down, bipartisan, partial background check for gun
purchases that's supported by some 90 percent of Americans and 74
percent of NRA members. The image of the president flanked by a grieving
mother and a congresswoman who was shot in the head brought me and many
others to tears.

This happened because money has near-complete control of our
political system. The NRA outspent the Brady Center to Control Gun
Violence by 73 to 1 last year. As Gabby Giffords said in her brilliant New York Times op-ed,
senators betrayed the people because of a deep fear of the NRA
unseating them from office. The NRA has that power because they have and
spend real political money.

I think it was TS who brought up a good point the other day. After the election last year, many of us were saying the NRA's power is exaggerated and that they're finished as a policy-influencing organization. Now all of a sudden, we're saying the opposite.

This is true. I think the explanation is simply that we were wrong before. Obama won two times in a row despite the tremendous money and effort the NRA invested. Unfortunately, on gun control we were not able to overcome.

Of course, it's not just the NRA. It's other gun-rights organizations as well as the gun manufacturers themselves. But the point is the same.

While gun owners, unlike the public at large, oppose gun control
measures such as banning assault-style weapons, a big majority of gun
owners (85%) support making private gun sales and sales at gun shows
subject to background checks. That matches the level of support among
the general public for doing this.

It amazes me how those who support gun rights so often find it necessary to exaggerate or lie. If they had any kind of a decent argument they wouldn't have to do that.